Do this to your clock if you want a bit of peace and quiet from the kids during the day

Genius.

Being a parent is great. No, it is, it's the best thing ever... except when your kids won't leave you alone every second of every day and you feel like you haven't had a second to yourself since 2004. Can be a bit grim at times. One mum thinks she has found out a way to give herself a bit more time during the day though - when it comes to food at least. Blogger 'Tried and True Mama' recently shared a photo of her clock that she has drawn all over to give herself a bit of extra time during the day. It makes sense, we promise. On Facebook, she wrote that her children are constantly asking her if they can have food and that she often feels like a "meal slave." So, in order to combat this, the mum said that she created "the meal clock." She wrote:

"I taught my kids (aged 5, 4, 4, 2, 2) that when the "black line with the big bump at the end" is in between the colours, that's when food will be served. "I also explained which coloured areas mean what and they caught on really quickly to the concept."

Tried and Tested Mama said that she allows her kids to have fruit and vegetable snacks whenever they want them. It's just the other foods that she wants to regulate. She said that the meal clock was great because it let her children know what to expect.

"They did try to outsmart me by arguing that since the line was still in the yellow after they had a snack, they'd be allowed to have more. So then I had to explain that we only get one snack during that time. "I also had to explain that I may still be cooking the meal once it hits the pink, green, or blue but that we would definitely eat before the colour ended."

So overall, seems like a pretty good system. Have you used anything similar? Let us know in the comments.